Oogie Boogie is a character and the main antagonist in the Tim Burton-produced Disney movie The Nightmare Before Christmas. He was voiced by Ken Page (who previously did King Gator in All Dogs Go to Heaven).

Oogie Boogie is the Boogie Man, resembling a large burlap sack. His life revolves around gambling, and loves gambling with others' lives. He is also apparently "The Shadow on the Moon at Night" as the shadow shown on the moon was an exact replica of him. Whether or not this is just a coincidence is unknown.

Ironically, he has no skills for gambling. On three occasions he rolls snake eyes and admits he has to resort to cheating when he slams his fist upon the table to shake the dice, resulting in 11. He's also somewhat lecherous which is evident when he's easily distracted by Sally's bare and dismembered leg in which he takes off her shoe to set her piggies free by exploring them naturally and tickle her foot, but he probably would've also wanted to play "This Little Piggy" with her toes as well as to suck on them right afterward before licking her foot because of his foot fetish. According to Lock, Shock, and Barrel as well as some of his deleted song material which is included in the soundtrack version, he's also very good at making a concoction known as Snake and Spider Stew, though it would seem he tends to use people as ingredients. He's a sadist who has his henchmen abduct people and bring them to his lair for him to torture and eventually kill and/or add to his Snake and Spider Stew.

When Oogie Boogie is defeated, it's revealed that he is a colony of bugs wrapped in sacking. After the "Brain Bug" was seen it is possible and likely that he might just be a very intelligent bug.

Contents

Characteristics

Personality

Unlike the other residents of Halloweentown who scare people just for fun and don't really mean to cause lasting harm, Oogie Boogie is a sadist as shown by the fact that the interior of his fortress is essentially a torture chamber with a casino-like twist as well as the fact that he loves bets with lives on the line as Oogie himself admits. Oogie Boogie resembles several ripped up gunny sacks sewn together with slits for a mouth and eyes. He is stuffed with bugs to the point of rotundity and must waddle about on his short, pointy legs. His life revolves around gambling which ironically he doesn't seem to have any skills for. He plays dice several times and admits he has to resort to cheating.

Powers and abilities

Oogie is shown to be a talented performer, exhibiting a flair for singing and dancing and a fondness for glamour and theatricality.

He is also a skilled chef as his Snake & Spider stew is said to be delicious but he has an unfortuate tendency to use people as ingredients.
Aside from his proportionate strength, Oogie has the ability to survive having his sack removed and most of his bugs destroyed, so long as his "brain bug" survives. He also demonstrates considerable lung power, able to suck in air with as much power as a jet engine. His shadow can materialize away from his body and move on its own, providing an explanation as to why the Shadow seen on the moon resembles him. Other than this and despite his menacing appearance, he is in fact a coward, and relies on fighting dirty and commanding the machines and booby traps in his lair to fight for him. Much of the "power" he supposedly possesses is fear and ignorance of exactly what he is, as he rarely leaves his fortress, preferring to send his henchmen, Lock, Shock, and Barrel, to do his bidding (and possibly to over-inflate his menacing image) it is possible that he may not treat them very well as they have dropped hints of he mistreats them in the series. Anyone who is sent there presumably never leaves alive, which may lead to wild rumors of the mysterious Boogie Man. Jack, having both faced and beaten Oogie before, knows the truth about the bug-filled windbag and shows absolutely no fear of him, while on the other hand, Oogie is greatly afraid of Jack, as shown from Jack's sudden and unexpected appearance in Oogie's lair in the film.

Role in the Film

Unlike all the other inhabitants of Halloween Town, who are merely innocent monsters who scare people for a living and as a profession and for whom "life's no fun without a good scare", Oogie is truly evil. It is suggested that his sadistic nature had resulted in his exile from the mainstream Halloween Town. He lives in an underground lair, which is full of torture devices with a casino-like twist. Oogie-Boogie's lair, during his theme song, is lit with blacklights in the style of a cheap funhouse. Under these, Oogie himself glows bright green. After the lights dim, however, the bright color is sapped from his lair, transforming its appearance into that of a dank, cellar-like dungeon. Above his lair is the clubhouse of Lock, Shock, and Barrel, who feed him bugs regularly via a metal chute. It is at first believed that Oogie cannot be killed or die but it is later revealed he can be destroyed if his brain, or the lead bug, is destroyed.

In the movie, Lock, Shock, and Barrel kidnap Santa Claus so that Jack Skellington can be Santa Claus. Jack tells Lock, Shock, and Barrel to take care of Santa, but instead they send him down to Oogie Boogie's lair, where he is bound to a giant roulette wheel. According to deleted song material (found in the soundtrack version), he plans to add "Sandy Claws" to his new batch of Snake and Spider Stew, to "add a little Spice". Sally, after finding out Santa's fate, attempts to rescue him but is captured herself. Oogie then tortures and tries to kill Sally and Santa Claus, but is destroyed when Jack pulls a thread loose on him, which causes about ninety percent of his bugs to fall into his own snake and spider stew. One of them, believed to be the lead bug, is crushed by Santa Claus; however, the true lead bug (apparently the "brain" of Oogie) is later revealed to have escaped to rebuild its body in video game spin-offs of the movie.

Oogie Boogie is a rarity for Disney villains in that he has killed far more prior to the film, Oogie Boogie has his victims skeletons in many of the original traps.

Oogie Boogie is one of Disney's more popular villains, despite having no more than 10 minutes screen time.

Video Games

In the video game prequel to TNBC, Oogie's origins and the birth of his rivalry with Jack were revealed. As it turns out, he once had his own holiday, Bug Day, that was (most likely) forgotten by the people of the real world and thus vanished. Unfortunately, Oogie escaped, found Halloween Town and decided that it would be the new Bug Day. He and his army of insects invaded the town and nearly took it over. Jack found out and he defeated the bugs and Oogie. Oogie survived the battle, learned to fear the Pumpkin King, and was banished to his underground lair.

In the 2005 video game sequel, Oogie was resurrected by his henchmen, Lock, Shock, and Barrel, who sewed him together. He quickly deceived the residents of Halloween Town and tricked the townfolk into making traps for his arch enemy, Jack Skellington. Oogie attempted to become the Seven Holidays King. He successfully kidnapped the real leaders and tried to murder Santa Claus again, but his plans were foiled by Jack. Desparate, Oogie puts up a fight by turning into a gigantic, junk-filled version of himself named "Mega-Oogie". He is again destroyed, though it has yet to be seen if he will return.

Oogie appears as one of the Disney villains allied with Maleficent in Kingdom Hearts, wanting the heart that Jack and Doctor Finklestein created to take control of the Heartless and use them to take over Halloween Town. He succeeded in part, swallowing the artificial Heart, but because the heart was faulty he couldn't summon as many Heartless as he expected. He tried to destroy Sora, Jack, and the others by trapping them in his giant roulette machine. Aside from throwing explosive dice all of his attacks depend on what number he rolls. He can summon Heartless, release a spinning blade wheel, summon a buzzsaw, or activate his healing machine. The player however can hit the dice canceling out Oogie's attack. At the end of the battle, his seams split and released all the bugs from inside his body, leaving nothing but his empty sack body and the hearts. However, because he had swallowed the heart, the energies inside of it resurrected him, merging him with his manor. His weak points were orbs of darkness that sustained his life. However, Sora destroyed them all, causing Oogie's manor form to crumble into dust.

Oogie returns in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories as a creation from Sora's memories of Halloween Town. The false Oogie Boogie steals Doctor Finklestein's special potion that is said to bring "true memories" and drinks it, but begins to feel intense fear (presumably of what happened to him) and Sora defeats him. He also appeared in Riku's story as a token of the darkness in his heart. Oogie is the boss of Halloween Town in both stories. The strategy to defeating him is to utilize card breaks to lower the bars that protect him until they retract completely, after which he is entirely vulnerable to any attack.

Oogie was resurrected by Maleficent in Kingdom Hearts II as part of her plan to take over Christmas Town while making Santa Claus into "Santa Heartless". However, Oogie Boogie, still weak from being revived and suffering from anterograde amnesia, drove Maleficent away after insulting her. Oogie converted Santa's present machine into a machine that summoned "Heartless" presents. His fate in the end was similar to his initial fate from the first game, only this time Donald Duck squashed the final bug in the hopes that Oogie would not return (as Santa did in the film). Oogie Boogie is the only villain besides Pete in the game that Maleficent interacts with directly, instead of sending Pete to enforce her will to fart.

Gallery

Trivia

Oogie is one of three male villains to shapeshift into a second form, the others being Jafar and Judge Doom. However, both of his second forms (Giant Oogie and Oogie's Manor) were in video games (Oogie's Revenge and Kingdom Hearts respectively).

His physical appearance is based on that of Alex Peddle

Oogie Boogie is the only villain besides Pete in Kingdom Hearts that Maleficent interacts with directly, instead of sending Pete to enforce her will.